Nick Foles threw a deep pass into the wind on the first play from scrimmage against the Falcons Youth San Francisco 49ers Jerseys , LeGarrette Blount scored the only touchdown on fourth down and wide receiver Nelson Agholor ran 21 yards on a new play.

The Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) are aggressive no matter what.

They’ll need that approach when they face the Minnesota Vikings (14-3) and their top-ranked defense in the NFC championship game on Sunday.

”You’d probably call me unorthodox with some of the decisions I’ve made on fourth downs and going for it, 2-point conversions, things like that,” Eagles coach Doug Pederson said Wednesday.

”Sometimes you just don’t do the norm, you just don’t do what everybody expects you to do and sometimes that can help you. I’m calculated by it, but at the same time, I’m going to make sure that I’m putting our guys in a good position.”

Foles underthrew the long pass to Torrey Smith to start the divisional playoff game, but a pass interference call gave the Eagles a 42-yard gain to the Falcons 25.

Jay Ajayi fumbled on the next play or perhaps the game wouldn’t have come down to a defensive stand at the end to preserve Philadelphia’s 15-10 win.

”Take a shot,” Pederson said explaining his decision to throw long into a stiff wind.

On the touchdown drive early in the second quarter, Philadelphia faced third-and-3 from the Falcons 24. Foles faked a pitch to running back Corey Clement and handed off to Agholor on an inside counter with Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson pulling out and leading the way. Agholor took it to the Falcons 3. It was the first time Pederson called the play this season.

”Coach has just had a knack of seemingly calling those at the right time,” offensive coordinator Frank Reich said.

”It comes up different every week. We really work well as a staff together in game planning. Sometimes we think we like something and we go out on the practice field and it doesn’t quite look like it’s ready. So, we have to keep it in the crock pot for another week or start over with a new recipe.”

Three plays later, tight end Trey Burton lined up at fullback and Blount followed his block into the end zone for a 1-yard TD run. Pederson didn’t think twice about going for it instead of kicking a game-tying field goal.

”The ball was just inside the 1-yard line, and we had confidence to go for it in that situation,” Pederson said. ”We were real close and the guys did a great job.”

During the regular season, only Green Bay (28) went for it on fourth down more than Philadelphia (26). The Eagles converted 17 times for 65.4 percent, third-best behind New Orleans (80 percent on 12 for 15) and Jacksonville (76.9 percent on 10 for 13). Minnesota is 1 for 7 on fourth down, fewest attempts in the league.

AP NFL website: Of all the people glued to their TVs rooting for the Buffalo Bills to finally – and mercifully – end their 17-season playoff drought last weekend, one curiously stood out: former Tennessee Titans tight end Frank Wycheck.

Wycheck is forever remembered in Buffalo for throwing a lateral on a kickoff return to give Tennessee a 22-16 playoff win over the Bills in a play dubbed the “Music City Miracle,” one of the wildest finishes ever to an NFL postseason game. The much-debated play in the January 2000 wild-card playoff propelled the Titans to the Super Bowl.

It’s a memory that still stings in Buffalo 18 years later, enveloped in the lingering pain from what grew into the longest playoff drought in North America’s four major professional sports.

”People were kind of bringing it up that that’s the reason why they haven’t made the playoffs because of that play Youth Tennessee Titans Jerseys ,” Wycheck told The Associated Press by phone from Nashville, Tennessee.

”I don’t want to put the responsibility on me,” said Wycheck, who now serves as a radio host and is taking a one-season break as a Titans broadcast analyst. ”But it was so long ago, too. I’m just glad they made it and I was happy for them.”

He doesn’t feel directly responsible for the Bills’ woes in the bungling years that followed. Still, Wycheck said if there was some kind of curse on the Bills sparked by the ”Music City Miracle,” it’s time it was lifted.

Add another member to the Bills bandwagon as Buffalo travels to play AFC South champion Jacksonville in a wild-card playoff on Sunday.

The sentiments surprised key players from Buffalo’s storied past, and even some fans didn’t quite know how to react when Wycheck tweeted his congrats to the Bills for making the playoffs.

”Are you kidding?” said Rob Johnson, the Bills quarterback at the time who started the game over Doug Flutie. ”Does he feel bad?”

”Wow. Really?” said Hall of Fame running back Thurman Thomas. ”Oh, that’s freaking awesome, man. That you could still in a way, even though it hurt us, that you could root for us, that’s great.”

Wycheck’s name has been dragged through the mud – and worse – across western New York long enough for a play most refer to as ”The Home Run Throwback .” Everywhere that is, except Buffalo – where it’s always been called ”The Home Run Throw Forward,” and ”The Immaculate Deception.”

Johnson, minus a shoe no less, completed a 9-yard pass to Peerless Price to set up Steve Christie hitting a 41-yard field goal to put Buffalo ahead 16-15 with 16 seconds remaining.

What followed was pure and utter disappointment for the Bills.

Tennessee’s Lorenzo Neal caught the ensuing kickoff and handed the ball to Wycheck, who ran to his right. He then spun around at his own 25 and threw the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who sprinted up the left sideline to score with 3 seconds left.

The 75-yard touchdown stood up after a lengthy video review, and the stunning loss spawned what became a playoff drought that tied for fifth-longest in NFL history.

Just like its start, the Bills’ drought ended in dramatic fashion last weekend.

Buffalo did its part with a 22-16 win at Miami . The Bills then clinched the AFC’s sixth and final playoff berth when Cincinnati’s Andy Dalton converted a fourth-and-12 in the final minute to hit Tyler Boyd for a touchdown Youth Washington Redskins Jerseys , beating Baltimore 31-27.

Thomas noted that Buffalo’s win over the Dolphins matched the same score as the 2000 loss to Tennessee – the running back’s last game in a Bills uniform.

”It’s been a long, long time,” said Thomas, who wept in joy after the Bills clinched their playoff berth.

After spending many of these last 17 years answering questions about the drought, and wondering if the Bills might in fact be cursed, Thomas is relieved everyone can finally put it behind them.

”The fans are living it now. Enjoy,” said Thomas, who was on the Bills teams that reached and lost four consecutive Super Bowl appearances in the early 1990s. ”It’s time to create some other memories.”

Even former Bills players who never earned a chance to enjoy a playoff appearance in Buffalo celebrated.

”I’m trying to live vicariously through them because I didn’t get to live it,” said punter Brian Moorman, who played for the Bills from 2001-13. ”I always said that place would go nuts if we got in the playoffs. I would’ve loved to have experienced that.”

Johnson, who eventually won a Super Bowl as a backup in Tampa Bay in 2003, was excited for the Bills and yet still carries some lingering resentment for what happened against Tennessee.

”They do all that scientific stuff now, I wonder if they ever proved that was a lateral,” he wondered. (Don’t try to convince some Bills fans, but it was studied thoroughly, including with rendered animations that showed the pass was almost perfectly horizontal but going ever so slightly backward.)

When reminded that it was ultimately the officials who made the call on Wycheck’s throw being legal, Johnson snorted.

”It wasn’t his fault, heh, it wasn’t his fault,” he said.

Wycheck insists his toss didn’t go forward and said the most disappointing development was learning of the Bills decision to fire special teams coach Bruce DeHaven following the season. He called it unfair to lay the blame on one person.